Taiwan: Task Force Head Resigns Over HIV-Positive Organ Transplants

September 2, 2011

The head of Taiwan University Hospital's organ transplant team has resigned in the wake of transplant-related HIV exposures there in recent weeks. Ko Wen-tse, who was responsible for forming and managing TUH's transplant team, took responsibility for the error, which resulted in five patients receiving organs from a deceased donor who had HIV.

TUH transplant team members relied on information from their coordinator, given over a telephone, in which they heard the donor was "non-reactive." HIV test results were usually recorded in English. Without double-checking the test results on a computer database, TUH's transplant team subsequently performed surgeries involving four organ recipients, local media reported. Another organ from the infected donor was used for a surgery at Cheng Kung University, where their transplant team allegedly took the TUH team's word that the donor was non-reactive.

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